


Being Lucky Can Be A Curse (Jack x Zhao Zi)

by Kitomiki



Category: HIStory3 - 圈套 | HIStory3: Trap
Genre: Apocalypse, Comedy, Fantasy, Gangster, M/M, Magic, Police, Supernatural - Freeform, Zombie
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-13
Updated: 2019-12-31
Packaged: 2020-05-02 12:51:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 18,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19199191
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kitomiki/pseuds/Kitomiki
Summary: When humans were on the verge of extinction because of the zombie apocalypse that they created years ago, God took pity and decided to finally interfere. One day, different parts of the world received some sort of blessing from the so-called "Rain of Miracle." Those who were exposed to this type of rain were granted with a supernatural power that would allow them to defend themselves and survive the zombie apocalypse. Unfortunately, when the rain of miracle happened in Zhao Zi's hometown, he was sleeping...Yet, even this is the case, Zhao Zi felt that he has always been favored by God. He considers himself as a person with a very good luck.With new changes in the world, how would Zhao Zi, our main character who is a naive and quirky policeman, be able to survive? Will his luck still be on his side?





	1. Chapter 1

Plot:

When humans were on the verge of extinction because of the zombie apocalypse that they created years ago, God took pity and decided to finally interfere. One day, different parts of the world received some sort of blessing from the so-called "Rain of Miracle." Those who were exposed to this type of rain were granted with a supernatural power that would allow them to defend themselves and survive the zombie apocalypse. Unfortunately, when the rain of miracle happened in Zhao Zi's hometown, he was sleeping...

Yet, even this is the case, Zhao Zi felt that he has always been favored by God. He considers himself as a person with a very good luck.

With new changes in the world, how would Zhao Zi, our main character who is a naive and quirky policeman, be able to survive? Will his luck still be on his side?


	2. Chapter 1 - Being Lucky Can Be A Curse (Jack x Zhao Zi)

It has been ten years since the outbreak of a strange virus that caused most of the living population of the world to be wiped out. Those who were able to survive the wrath of the virus until now are hiding behind the protection of the huge impenetrable walls of the last surviving cities around the world. For the unlucky ones who succumbed and got infected by the virus were either eliminated or became one of those horrifying beings with decaying bodies who craves the flesh of a living human being: zombies.

When the virus outbreak initially started in Europe, the citizens of Taiwan and the international community thought that it was something that would be contained immediately and that it would not reach their country. Unbeknownst to them, the different governments in Europe that tried to suppress and to contain the spread of the virus failed miserably. Although they tried to hide the severity of the outbreak as not to alarm the public and the international community, the people were able to figure out their governments' failure to resolve the problem. As panic arose amongst the European people, they tried to flee to other countries. This massive migration became problematic since those who were infected could further spread the virus.

Seeing the terrifying videos of what has happened to those who got infected, different countries immediately closed their borders and tightened their security against foreigners. This did not work.

The virus gradually spread in different countries, which caused a worldwide outbreak. In a desperate attempt to eliminate the further spread of the virus, some countries decided to use their nuclear weapons to wipe out those who were infected. Unfortunately, this did not work either.

Governments eventually were unable to function as the number of the infected increased astronomically. Some countries, however, were lucky. Taiwan, for example, was able to respond and adapt to the situation quickly. Although the virus also spread in the country, the government of Taiwan managed to come up with a solution: constructing huge and impenetrable walls in its important cities. With these huge walls, the cities were able to fend off the zombies. As long as they are able to eliminate zombies along the borders as not to have a huge horde of zombies, the survivors living in this kind of cities are safe. Aside from this, the Taiwan government managed to maintain communication and transportation in different cities in the country. Because of this, the cities could still conduct trade and communicate with one another without a problem.

With the government still functioning in Taiwan, its society is somewhat still stable and peaceful. In addition, it is thanks to its intact security force that it managed to further secure its stability. Its military forces are in charge of protecting the borders and the only authority that are capable of venturing out of the city. On the other hand, the police forces are in charge of security within the cities.

Of course, this did not mean that life became better. Due to limited resources and a still increasing amount of infection, the population around the world is still decreasing. If this continues, then humanity would go extinct.

In order to prevent the extinction of humans, God took pity on his creations and has decided to bring a blessing to the world. One day, miraculous rains in different parts of the world occurred. This phenomenon so-called "Rain of Miracle" granted living beings with a supernatural power that would allow them to have a higher chance of surviving in the zombie apocalypse.

Within a day, news around the world about this phenomenon spread like wildfire. No one knew why the rain gave supernatural powers, but the people who received powers were delighted and thankful about it. God has not forsaken humanity!

Only a very small portion of the population received some kind of power. For most of the people who were not exposed to the rain, they could only shook their heads in disappointment.

[Day 1 After the Rain of Miracle]

[Location: H City at Taiwan, Taipei]

[Population: 25, 000]

After the "Rain of Miracle" phenomenon yesterday, the H City's Police Department was bustling with a lot of excitement and noises.

"Did you get any powers? I got the power to turn into stone!" one of the policemen enthusiastically asked as he showed a part of his arm turning into stone.

"Woah! That's impressive! My body turns into spikes!" the other shorter policeman said as he showed his arms with sharp spikes that are similar to a porcupine.

This asking of question about what kind of power a person received would be a topic in this police department for the entire day most likely. Of course, everyone wanted to know what kind of power each person possesses. They wanted to know if they have way cooler and stronger power compared to the others.

Meanwhile, in the corner of a room was someone who seemed to be indifferent about the commotion in the office. Sitting at his desk wearing a headphone while listening to music, Zhao Zi was busy finishing some of the files he was supposed to finish the other day.

Two days ago, Zhao Zi got sick, so he had to take two days off to recover. All he did during these past two days were just eat and rest. He only came out of the house today to get to work. When he arrived in the police department, he immediately went straight to his desk to work on the files that he was supposed to finish, so he did not know what was the current commotion in the office.

       

(A/N: Zhao Zi. Found it on Kenny Chen's instagram @sawadikap_kenny)

Jun Wei and Huang Yi Qi arrived at the same time on their way to the office. Just like everyone else, they were also talking about the power that they got. Jun Wei gained the capability to shapeshift into a different kinds of animals. Huang Yi Qi was like a human telescope. She has the capability to see things from a very long distance. As they happily talked to one another about the powers that they received, Huang Yi Qi noticed Zhao Zi working at his desk in the corner of the office. She immediately tapped Jun Wei and the two of them approached him.

(A/N: Huang Yi Qi and Jun Wei. Photos are not mine. Got them from MyDramaList)

"Zhao Zi," Jun Wei said as he stood behind his police friend as he tried to get his attention.

Zhao Zi seemed not to hear him as he continued working on his computer.

Jun Wei was about to tap him to get his attention when Huang Yi Qi stopped him immediately. She thought of something clever and took out her phone. She then told Jun Wei to transform into an animal and jump in front of Zhao Zi's computer screen to scare Zhao Zi. Jun Wei quickly nodded as he chuckled.

Zhao Zi was about to save the last file on his computer when suddenly a huge eagle just flew straight away on his desk out of nowhere which caused him to jump from getting scared.

"Uwah! An eagle! There's an eagle!" Zhao Zi immediately screamed as he fell on the floor.

"Puhahah!" Huang Yi Qi laughed as she recorded the entire situation.

Zhao Zi was confused when he saw Huang Yi Qi with her phone up. She seemed to be recording.

The chief of the police department who was nearby heard Zhao Zi's scream, so he walked over to checked out what happened.

"What's happening here?" Chief Shi Dapao asked as he frowned.

       

(A/N: Chief Shi Dapao. I could not find a decent picture so I screenshot it from the 1st episode.)

"Boss! There's an eagle on my desk!" Zhao Zi immediately stood up and approached his boss as he hid behind him.

"An eagle?" Shi Dapao quickly looked at his desk and saw the eagle. He also noticed Huang Yi Qi who was holding her laugh.

"Huang Yi Qi, explain yourself. What's happening here?" he asked with an authoritative voice.

Huang Yi Qi suppressed the urge her laugh as she responded with, "That eagle on Zhao Zi's desk is Jun Wei. He has the power to transform into an animal. Umm, we just wanted to surprise Zhao Zi about his power, so I told him to transform."

"Are you a child?" the chief of the police department said as he started scolding Huang Yi Qi.

"Power? Jun Wei is that eagle? How's that possible? Is this a prank?" Zhao Zi asked with a confused expression on his face.

Chief Dapao and Huang Yi Qi looked at one another and then stared directly at Zhao Zi.

"You don't know what happened yesterday?" Huang Yi Qi asked.

"Yesterday? I was sleeping the whole time at my house because I was sick," Zhao Zi answered.

"What happened yesterday?" he asked.

"Eh!? Did you watch the news yesterday or this morning?" the policewoman asked.

Zhao Zi shook his head.

"I see that's why you look so clueless!" she responded as her eyes widened in sudden realization.

She quickly explained the "Rain of Miracle" phenomenon that occurred yesterday. As she was explaining, the chief quickly asked Jun Wei to transform back into human form and made him go back to work. Even if the people in the police department got powers, Chief Dapao still made them go back to work. Usual day-to-day operations in the department still continued. Zhao Zi, who saw Jun Wei's transformation, became amazed all of a sudden. He now understood what was happening.

"Then this means, you didn't get any power?" Huang Yi Qi quickly asked.

Zhao Zi shook his head once again. Although this was the case, he did not get sad or jealous about not getting powers. He thought that if he did not get it then he did not get it. In any case, he is a pretty lucky guy. He always has good luck on his side.

Seeing that Zhao Zi did not have some sort of negative reaction, the chief and Huang Yi Qi understood that Zhao Zi was not too affected by the current situation of people getting powers. They felt relieved. They thought that if it happened that they missed this golden opportunity, they would probably hate everyone who has powers. Yet, Zhao Zi is different. He is a very simple person after all. That was one of his charms aside from his sometimes quirky funny attitude.

Zhao Zi quickly changed the topic as not to make people worry and sympathize with him by asking the whereabouts of Shao Fei.

(A/N: You guys already know this person. :) Picture from MyDramaList.)

"Shao Fei, he...Oh, there he is!" Huang Yi Qi excitedly blurted out as she pointed the direction of Shao Fei as he entered with a group of familiar people. That group of people that just entered were a mixture of the police force and handcuffed gangsters from Tang Yi's group and its rival gang, Lao Ke's group.

When Chief Dapao saw this, he immediately became infuriated as steam came out from his nose, ears, and mouth. The chief of the police department was also exposed to the rain yesterday and received the power to wield fire.

"SHAO FEI!!! YOU DID IT ONCE AGAIN! You arrested people without a proper warrant of arrest!" Chief Dapao approached Shao Fei to scold him once again for his reckless act. Seeing the situation was about to escalate, Zhao Zi asked Huang Yi Qi, Jun Wei, and A Zhi for help to divert their chief's attention. Everyone agreed and they hurriedly stood up to help out Shao Fei.

(A/N: A Zhi. Picture from MyDramaList!)

Meanwhile, the gangsters who were detained for interrogation were chained at the horizontal metal tube that was attached to the wall of the office.

One of the chained gangsters who has red hair and was wearing black half-finger gloves could only chuckle as he was witnessing the lively atmosphere in the police department.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here we are with this new fanfiction. I really liked Jack and Zhao Zi in the series so I decided to make a new fanfiction.
> 
> I hope you guys will like it! Alright see ya later!


	3. Chapter 2 - Supernatural Investigation Department

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> =======
> 
> New update! Woot!
> 
> If you see any mistakes here, please let me know.

After a successful attempt at diverting the chief's attention from Shao Fei. Zhao Li An and the others made a huge sigh of relief.

"Thank you guys for helping me out with the boss," Shao Fei said with a smile on his face.

"We know how stubborn you are. Besides we've been doing this for years already," Zhao Li An chuckled.

Everyone in the team nodded and laughed. After their small discussion, they continued their interrogation with the gangsters. Lao Ke's gang including Lao Ke himself was sent to prison. Unfortunately for Jack, before they could even interrogate him, he was taken away by the military department. It was quite unusual that the military would interfere with the police department's affairs, especially when it involves Tang Yi's group. Of course, Shao Fei and the others could not interrogate and detain the people of the military department about their relationship with Tang Yi's group since they have higher authority than the police department. Shaking his head with disappointment, Shao Fei could only let them go. He would not be able to interrogate Jack even if he take him by force.

For Zhao Li An and the others, this scene was considered normal. Every time they take someone from Tang Yi's group, that person would be taken away by the military department. They still do not know the connection between them, but they do not have the authority to ask.

Even though they have been pursuing Tang Yi's group for years now since that incident, Shao Fei has still not received any sort of lead that would prove that Tang Yi was actually involved in that incident. Zhao Li An, who has been with Shao Fei in helping him find evidence, knew how important this case is for Shao Fei. They have been close friends since their time in the police academy, so it was natural that Zhao Li An would help Shao Fei in this case.

When it comes to Tang Yi and his group, Zhao Li An does not hold any grudge towards them, but since they are gangsters, he does not trust them one bit. Gangsters in this city were well-known for causing terror to the public and conducting black market, so it was natural that people including Zhao Li An to distrust them.

Just like Shao Fei distrusts Tang Yi, Zhao Li An does not trust Jack. Looking at Jack's records, nothing was mentioned about any illegal activities in his profile which could be considered quite suspicious since he is part of Tang Yi's group. Although the records might not mention it, Zhao Li An could feel that there was something suspicious about Jack by just looking at him. People might not see it, but Jack has an aloof expression on his face even though he would always smile like there was nothing wrong. It was definitely suspicious! This guy might be an assassin!

No one might know it, but Zhao Li An has a quite good instinct aside from his good luck. He was actually quite proud of having such ability.

Finding Jack more suspicious, Zhao Li An started coming up with a piece of possible background information about him. In the end, he thought that Jack must be a product of the military department's experiment to create a secret weapon to destroy the ongoing problem with the horde of zombies that were overwhelming other cities. Right now the military might be testing his capabilities here in the city by being part of Tang Yi's group! This could be part of the reason why his profile did not have any flaws. Still, if Jack was part of the military's experiment to create a secret weapon, then wouldn't it be better if he was sent in the front lines or at the border?

When he thought about this, he chuckled a bit. His imagination must be running wild to come up with such a scenario. One thing was for sure he thought, he knew that Jack was not an ordinary person. Eventually, he will find out who Jack truly is.

While he was still stuck in his own world thinking about plausible background information about Jack, Shao Fei was finishing some documents in order to release Jack. Meanwhile, Jack finds himself staring at Zhao Li An after seeing that he was chuckling on his own. What a weird and interesting fellow.

Since Jack goes in and out of the police department frequently, he naturally knows everyone in the department. He does not consider anyone interesting aside from this quirky policeman. He just finds him funny and entertaining, just like right now when Zhao Li An just chuckled on his own. Who would just casually go into daydreaming when there was an ongoing tension right now between the military department representative who is present in the police department? It seemed that he was not even affected by the current affairs at all.

Even though the public thinks that the military department and the police department have a harmonious relationship with one another, this was actually not the truth. For some reason, these two departments have never had a good relationship to begin with. It could be due to the military department having a higher authority than the police department that the police became jealous of the military. It could also be due to the police having much easier lives than the soldiers at the border that the military hate the police. It could also be both. In any case, Jack does not care about such affairs.

After finishing the documents for release, Shao Fei removed the handcuffs from Jack with a dejected expression.

"Better luck next time," Jack said teasingly as he walked away with the military department representative.

"That guy is a pain in the ass just like Tang Yi! Tsk!" Shao Fei said as he clicked his tongue. One of these days, he will surely find evidence against Tang Yi.

"Shao Fei, you're not thinking of stalking Tang Yi again? If the boss finds out, you'll get in trouble," Zhao Li An said worriedly.

"He won't know unless someone tells him," Shao Fei answered as he faced Zhao Li An.

"No one has to tell the boss at all. He'll know that you won't stop," Zhao Li An continued.

Shao Fei: "......."

After a moment of silence when Shao Fei was unable to say something back to Zhao Li An, he changed the topic.

"Why were you chuckling earlier? Did something funny happen?" Shao Fei asked as the two started walking back to their work desks.

"Ohh that? I was thinking of Jack's origin. I mean if you look at his profile, there are no flaws. It definitely looks suspicious," Zhao Li An said as he turned on his computer to work.

"That's to be expected. It's the same with Tang Yi and other high-profile gang lords. They are very meticulous when they do their dirty work. You can't really trust that information on the computer," Shao Fei said as he also turned on his computer.

"That's true," Zhao Li An nodded.

"So, why did you laugh earlier again?" Shao Fei asked once again.

"Ahh! I thought that Jack was part of the military's experiment to create a secret weapon to destroy zombies," Zhao Li An said as he chuckled once again.

"What's with that ridiculous thought?" Shao Fei said as he laughed as he shook his head.

"I know it's ridiculous. That's the reason why I laughed," Zhao Li An answered as he started working on his computer.

"Ohh Shao Fei, did you get any powers?" Zhao Li An curiously asked.

 

"I did. I have regenerative powers. If I get wounded, I could get healed easily like nothing happened," Shao Fei explained.

 

"Woah! Shao Fei, you're really cool!" Zhao Li An said as he continued to admire Shao Fei.

 

"It doesn't mean that I can't feel pain. As much as possible, I still want to avoid getting hurt," Shao Fei continued.

 

Zhao Li Ann nodded. His respect and admiration towards Shao Fei just increased.

 

"Eh, how about you. Did you get a supernatural ability?"

 

"No, not really. I was sleeping yesterday the whole day," Zhao Li An replied.

 

Shao Fei: "...."

"That's alright. You don't really need it. Don't you have luck on your side? That could be considered a supernatural ability," Shao Fei said to comfort his friend.

 

"I know. I also said that to myself and to our coworkers," Zhao Li An casually answered.

"That's good to hear then," Shao Fei smiled as he rubbed Zhao Li An's head. The two then continued to work on their computers.

Later that day, Zhao Li An was called to Chief Dapao's office. When he opened the door to his chief's office, he saw familiar faces.

Shao Fei, A Zhi, Jun Wei, and Huang Yi Qi were all present in the room.

"Come in," Chief Dapao commanded. Zhao Li An entered the room and closed the door. For some reason, the atmosphere seemed a little tense. Are they in trouble because of what happened earlier?

"You're not in trouble," Chief Dapao said as he took the folder on his desk and handed it to Shao Fei. Zhao Li An covered his mouth immediately. Did he just say his thoughts out loud?

"What's this boss?" Shao Fei asked as he took the folder.

"The higher-ups made a decision this morning to create a new department," Chief Dapao answered.

"A new department?" Huang Yi Qi asked as she quickly went to Shao Fei's side to take a look at the folder he was holding.

"Yes. You guys should already know about the "Rain of Miracle" phenomenon that happened yesterday where everyone who was exposed to the rain gained some supernatural ability," Chief Dapao quickly answered.

Everyone in the room nodded.

"Well, we are still unclear about this phenomenon and it is still being investigated by the science department," Chief Dapao continued to explain.

"So you want us to help them investigate this phenomenon?" Shao Fei asked as he looked at the files on his hands.

Chief Dapao immediately shot down Shao Fei's thoughts as he said, "Not exactly."

The boss cleared his throat as he continued his explanation, "The higher ups would like to create a new department that would deal with specific issues or criminal activities where supernatural abilities are involved within this city."

"Is it necessary to create such a department? Shouldn't the entire police department deal with this issue?" Shao Fei curiously asked.

"It's an order from the higher-ups. Can't do anything about it," Chief Dapao said.

"Since you called us for this, then that means you want us to be part of this new department?" Zhao Li An asked with a feeling of excitement. This should be interesting then!

Right now, what Zhao Li An mostly does as a police officer is to be on his desk all day to do paperwork. Although he does not hate it entirely, he finds it boring and repetitive. When he would ask his boss for him to work outside with Shao Fei, the boss would usually say no. It was always Shao Fei who gets the action while Zhao Li An would always be in the office working on his computer. This time he might get the chance to work outside instead from his little space in the police department.

Chief Dapao nodded and said, "That's right. I want all of you to be part of the Supernatural Investigation Department."

Zhao Li An could not help it but feel happy and excited. He would now be part of a new cool department with his favorite coworkers! Yet, immediately his dreams were crushed when Shao Fei and the others started to complain.

"I bet there's more work involved," Jun Wei was the first one to complain.

"It's more dangerous too most likely," A Zhi continued.

"I don't want to be part of it. I prefer working on my desk," Huang Yi Qi said.

"I have other things to worry about, boss," Shao Fei said as he put the folder back to their chief's desk.

Casually organizing the files in the folder on his desk, Chief Dapao said "I understand if you guys don't want it. You guys can go back to work."

Zhao Li An was a little upset about the situation. If none of his favorite coworkers would like to work in the new department, then he would not do it either.

After the chief told them to go back to work, everyone nodded as they slowly walked towards the door.

"Too bad, they would double your salary...." Chief Dapao muttered while looking on his computer as he ignored the policemen who were walking out of his office.

When the police officers heard the words "double salary", they immediately turned around and approached their chief.

"I'M IN!!" all the police officers in their chief's office shouted in unison. All of a sudden, the complaints that they had in the beginning about being part of the new department suddenly seemed not to exist.

"I like taking new tough challenges. I believe I'll be a great part of the team for the Supernatural Investigation Department," Jun Wei said without hesitation and with enthusiasm to Chief Dapao.

The boss just stared at him with a poker face.

"Danger is part of the life of a policeman. I'm willing to do what is right for the sake of our people even if it means sacrificing my life," A Zhi said with such conviction.

The boss did the same thing and just stared at A Zhi with a poker face.

"A new environment could mean new valuable experience," Huang Yi Qi smiled with enthusiasm as she faced Chief Dapao.

Chief Dapao: "...."

"More work shouldn't be a problem, I can handle it," Shao Fei said.

Chief Dapao: "...."

"I want to be part of it, because of the double salary."

After hearing those words, the other police officers immediately looked at Zhao Li An.

"Umm and because I want to work with everyone who wants to make a difference...." Zhao Li An quickly added when he saw the dumbfounded look by his coworkers. Zhao Li An was not sure what was wrong about saying he wanted to be part of the new department because of a double salary? Is it not what everyone wanted?

Chief Dapao: "...."

After hearing the excuses from everyone, the chief started to release steam from his ears, nose, and mouth. His face started to turn red like a tomato. This meant one thing: death.

"ALL OF YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELVES! YOU DARE CALL YOURSELVES POLICEMEN!! IF I DIDN'T MENTION ABOUT THE DOUBLE SALARY, YOU WOULD JUST WALK OFF!!" Chief Dapao shouted loudly that even the people outside the office could hear him. They could not imagine how furious their chief must have been for him to shout that loudly. For those who were receiving their chief's wrath and fury,  prayers for their souls to safely enter heaven's gate were performed.

Inside the chief's office, Zhao Li An and his coworkers could only look down in silence. They did not dare say anything back to the chief, because he might become angrier, so they just let him lash out on them.

After some time, the chief finally calmed down. He handed back the files that contain information about the duties and other functions of the new department. In addition, he made Shao Fei as the head of the new department. After discussing important matters about the department, the chief dismissed the team.

"Remind me not to defy the chief again," Jun Wei jokingly said to Huang Yi Qi.

"I really thought he was going to turn into a fire breathing dragon and roast us alive," Huang Yi Qi wiped her sweat on her forehead. When the chief was angry earlier, the steam that came out from his face covered the entire room causing the temperature to increase until it became unbearably hot.

While the other policemen who came out of the chief's room were talking about how to avoid making the chief angry, Zhao Li An and Shao Fei were discussing their first assignment.

"Shao Fei, what are we doing exactly tomorrow?" Zhao Li An curiously asked.

"We're going outside," Shao Fei asked as he continued to read the files on his hands.

Immediately, Zhao Li An's eyes lit up with excitement. He could now go outside and be part of the action with Shao Fei as they solve cases!

"We're going to visit people's houses and take surveys...." Shao Fei continued as he looked at Zhao Li An.

Zhao Li An: "...."


	4. Chapter 3 - Survey

[Day 2 After the Rain of Miracle]

[Location: H City at Taiwan, Taipei]

[Population: 24, 999]

"Shao Fei, I'm tired and it's hot. How many more houses do we have to go to?" Zhao Li An asked as he fanned himself with the clipboard that he was currently holding.

Shao Fei shook his head. "We only just got to ten houses and you're already complaining? Didn't you say that you wanted to work outside?"

"I didn't mean this kind of work though," Zhao Li An complained as he pouted. He wanted to work on a real case, possibly a murder case.

At the moment, the new team of the Supernatural Investigation Department was outside to survey people about whether they received new powers or not.

The team was divided into two groups. Shao Fei teamed up with Zhao Li An while Jun Wei was with Huang Yi Qi. Meanwhile, A Zhi stayed in the new office of the Supernatural Investigation Department in the police building in case the new team received any call or new assignments.

Going to their assigned areas to take surveys, everything went smoothly as the citizens who they surveyed were cooperating. The government has issued an announcement about the new department and its functions to the public this morning, so most of the people knew about the surveys.

Shao Fei and Zhao Li An walked to the next house.

"Excuse me. We're from the Supernatural Investigation Department and we would just like to conduct a survey," Zhao Li An said as he knocked on the old wooden door of the small house.

Observing the small house, it was quite dilapidated. The metal gate was broken and rusting. The paint of the exterior of the house was mostly peeled off. The glass windows were broken and the holes on them were taped. The plants of small garden found in front of the house were wilted already. It looked like no one actually lived in this place for a long time.

Less than a minute has passed when the door was opened as it creaked.

Zhao Li An immediately noticed the small kid who opened the door. He recognized that he was a foreigner. He had blonde hair, blue eyes, and fair skin.

The little kid, who was wearing a simple white shirt with some dirt on it and blue shorts, looked shy as he was slightly hiding behind the door.

"Umm...hello..." the small kid said as he looked up to Zhao Li An.

Based on his assessment, the kid was around 6 to 7 years old. Zhao Li An could not help it, but smile after seeing the adorable shy expression of the little boy.

He kneeled and introduced himself and his partner to the kid. "Hello, my name is Zhao Li An and this is my partner, Shao Fei. What's your name?"

The kid looked at Zhao Li An who was smiling. Somehow, it made him feel comfortable, so he smiled back. He slightly moved away from the door and approached Zhao Li An.

Yet the moment he saw Shao Fei, he felt scared, so he went back behind the door to hide.

Zhao Li An knew that this was going to happen, so he faced his partner while shaking his head.

"I smiled at him though?" Shao Fei said while feeling wronged. Every time he interacts with kids, for some reason, they would hide or run away from him. He asked Zhao Li An for advice on how to approach kids properly since he (Zhao Li An) was great at handling them. Yet, no matter how hard he tried, kids still seemed not to like him. He thought that when he gets his own family, his children might not like him. He even had a thought that maybe he should just give up on having his own family.

"You look like a creep. You should relax your facial muscles more since your smile looked forced," Zhao Li An scolded Shao Fei.

Shao Fei adjusted his smile as he relaxed his facial muscles.

"H-How's this?" he asked while maintaining his twitching smile.

"Still no good," Zhao Li An said as he shook his head once again.

At that moment, Shao Fei gave up. "You deal with the people in this house. I'm just going to visit another house instead. It'll make our work faster."

Zhao Li An nodded. "Okay. I'll see you in a bit then."

With his own clipboard, Shao Fei walked away to another house.

The little kid peeped behind the door and observed to see if the scary guy was still there. He was not there anymore. Slowly, he came out once again.

"I'm sorry if he scared you, but Shao Fei is not a bad person. He's really cool if you get to know him more," Zhao Li An calmly and happily said to the kid.

"En," the little kid said as he shyly nodded while looking down.

"What's your name? Where are your parents?" the policeman asked.

"My na-name is Axel Auriant. I don't have any parents. I only have my gra-grandfather," the kid whispered as he slightly stuttered.

"I see," Zhao Li An replied still maintaining his smile. When he heard that this kid only had his grandfather, he could not help it but see himself in the kid.

Growing up, Zhao Li An only had his grandmother. He never saw his parents since he was a child. His grandmother said that they died in an accident, but some people said that they just did not want him. Apparently, he was a mistake since his parents had their own family. In any case, he accepted the fact that he did not have any parents. Quite frankly, he did not mind it. His grandmother cared and loved for him so much like any other parents. His grandmother was good enough for him.

"Stay away from my grandchild!"

Both Zhao Li An and Axel were startled as they faced the direction of the shout.

"Grandpa!" Axel quickly ran towards his grandfather and hugged him.

"Are you alright? Did he do anything to you?" Axel's grandfather asked as he hugged the child tightly.

"I'm okay," the child said softly.

"That's good then." Axel's grandfather, who also had foreign features like his grandchild, faced Zhao Li An with caution.

"What do you want?" The old man asked as he frowned while still holding his grandchild in his arms. He was wearing what seemed to be a janitor uniform.

Zhao Li An understood that the grandfather was overprotective of his grandchild. His grandmother was the same.

"Hello, I'm Zhao Li An from the Supernatural Investigation Department. I'm just here to ask you some questions. You must've heard the announcement from the government this morning?" Zhao Li An quickly introduced himself in order to allow the grandfather to become less tense.

Axel's grandfather remembered that there was an announcement this morning, so he replied with a nod.

"Come in," he said as he caressed his grandchild.

Zhao Li An removed his shoes and went in. "Thank you."

"I don't have anything to offer to you. I didn't expect to have a guest today at all. As you can see, we're really poor," Axel's grandfather said without hesitation. He pointed at an old wooden chair near Zhao Li An, so he had a place to seat at least.

"That's alright. I won't stay too long." Zhao Li An grabbed his pen from his pocket and started asking questions.

"Could you please state your name, age, and occupation?"

"My name is David Auriant. I'm 60 years old. I'm a janitor."

Taking notes, Zhao Li An continued to ask questions.

"How many people live in your house? Could you state their name, age, and occupation?"

"I only live with my grandson. His name is Axel Auriant. He's 6 years old."

Zhao Li An nodded.

"You should now be familiar with the "Rain of Miracle" phenomenon. I would like to know if you or your grandchild received any kind of supernatural power?"

When he heard the question, the grandfather immediately looked tense as he held his grandchild tighter.

"No, none of us received any ability," Axel's grandfather quickly replied.

Zhao Li An observed the old man's tense expression. He was lying.

Yet, even if this was the case, there was no protocol on how to handle a situation where a person would deliberately hide his or her supernatural ability. The Supernatural Investigation Department was new after all. Zhao Li An would only take a note of it and not pressure the old man to say anything. If he does not want to say it, then he is not going to force him.

"Was there anything out of the ordinary that you have noticed after the Rain of Miracle?" Zhao Li An continued to ask.

"Nothing. I just know that the neighbors started to show off their powers to other people. Other than that, there's nothing out of the ordinary," Axel's grandfather replied as he became relaxed once more.

"I see. That would be all, but before I left, Is there anything else you want to tell me?" Zhao Li An once again observed the old man. There was a short pause in the old man's response as if he wanted to say something else, but he only replied with "Nothing."

Zhao Li An nodded as he faced the door. "Thank you for your time. I'm leaving now."

"Hey," the old man quickly interrupted.

"Yes?" Zhao Li An looked back. He was curious about what the old man would say.

"I'm sorry about earlier. I was just being overprotective. You know how the people here treat foreigners right?" Axel's grandfather explained.

Zhao Li An agreed. When the zombie apocalypse started, foreigners, especially those who came from Europe were frowned upon by the locals in Taiwan. Back then, no one really knew about how the virus spread, so when the locals would see a foreigner, they would immediately avoid that person. They would say nasty things and harass them. Sometimes, they would even threaten to kill them so that they would leave their cities. Even though there is more information available regarding the virus which is commonly spread through a bite from an infected, the locals still did not trust the foreigners. So throughout the years, foreigners in Taiwan suffered from discrimination. Due to this, most of them were suffering from poverty and lack of jobs. Axel's grandfather would be considered quite lucky for having his own job. Since H City is considered as one of the wealthiest cities in Taiwan, more foreigners have jobs here compared to other cities. Still, it did not mean that they are well-off. Compared to his neighbors, Axel's grandfather was the poorest of them all.

"I understand your situation quite well. I would do the same thing if I was in your position," Zhao Li An replied.

"Thank you," Axel's grandfather finally showed a smile on his face. It was the first time that someone treated him properly in this city.

"If you need help with anything, please don't hesitate to ask me..... Actually..." Zhao Li An ripped a piece of paper and wrote his phone number on it.

"Here, please call me directly if you need anything," the policeman said as he handed the piece of paper on Axel's grandfather without hesitation. 

"Thank you," the old man replied as he put it in his pocket.

"I'm going to head out now. Have a good day. Bye, Axel!" Zhao Li An waved his hands to the little kid.

"Bye bye! Zhao Li An!" Axel happily smiled as he waved back to Zhao Li An.

After heading out of the small house, Zhao Li An went to look for Shao Fei. When the two met up, they continued conducting surveys to different houses the whole day.

That night after work, Zhao Li An went straight home. He was really tired, so he bought food from a convenience store nearby.

Sitting down at the table, Zhao Li An looked at the small shelf where his late grandmother's items were stored. While eating warm cup noodles, he reminisced the happy moments he had with her when he was a kid. Zhao Li An then remembered Axel and his grandfather. He hoped that the two of them would be alright.

After a while, Zhao Li An started to clean up after he finished eating his cup noodles.

While cleaning, he was interrupted by a strange noise in his house.

"Oink! Oink!"  

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ======
> 
> Here you go! Sorry for the wait. Once again, if you guys see any mistakes here, please let me know!


	5. Chapter 4 - First Case : Phantom Thief

Hearing the strange noise, Zhao Li An stopped what he was doing.

"Oink! Oink!"

When Zhao Li An heard the noise once again, he was sure that it was a pig. The confusing part was that how could there be a pig in his house?

Tracing the origin of the sound, Zhao Li An walked towards the direction of his bedroom carefully. With a gun in his hand, he slowly opened the door and checked who or what might be inside his room.

As he surveyed his bedroom, he saw an actual pig rummaging through his stuff on his bookshelf! How can there be a pig in his room!?

Observing the pig more, it seemed to be fully grown. It was color black, but its forehead has a white spot. As it was searching for stuff in the bookshelf, Zhao Li An was thinking what was this pig looking for in the first place?

Yet, not waiting for the pig to make more mess in his bedroom, he tried to get its attention.

"Hey, Piggy. What are you doing in my bedroom?" Zhao Li An playfully asked as he put his gun back to its gun holder attached to his belt.

When the pig heard a human's voice, it turned around to face him.

"Oink! Oink!" (I'm in danger!)

"Come here, Piggy. How did you get here?" Zhao Li An continued as he approached the black pig.

"Oink! Oink!" (I have to go!)

Before Zhao Li An could touch the black pig, it immediately disappeared.

"Ehh? Where did it go?" Zhao Li An became surprised and confused as he looked around his bedroom.

Zhao Li An suddenly had a realization. "The pig suddenly disappeared then that means it has power too? Then that means, not only humans got power, but also animals?"

"This is truly unbelievable!" Zhao Li An was suddenly amazed. It would be amazing if he has a pet with a superpower, but he does not have one at the moment. Wait, then how about plants? Also, how about the zombies? Do they also have powers? If zombies gain powers, that would be troubling for the people.

Taking a deep breath, he put these thoughts behind his head. One thing is for sure, animals could also have powers.

Zhao Li An went to his bookshelf to rearrange the items that were on the floor. While cleaning, he was thinking what was the pig looking for at his bookshelf. Most of the items were mostly pictures of his grandmother and him and books. He could only shake his head after not finding a proper answer.

After cleaning up, he went to the bathroom to take a bath and brush his teeth. He then went to sleep afterwards since tomorrow will be another busy day for the Supernatural Investigation Department team.

[Day 3 After the Rain of Miracle]

[Location: H City at Taiwan, Taipei]

[Population: 24, 998]

Zhao Li An suddenly woke up from the ring of his phone. Quickly picking it up, he saw that it was from Shao Fei.

"Hello, Shao Fei. It's so early in..."

Before Zhao Li An could finish, he was interrupted by Shao Fei.

"We have our first case. I need you here right now!" Shao Fei instructed.

"First case! Alright, I'll be there as soon as possible. See you later Shao Fei," Zhao Li An enthusiastically answered as he went straight to the bathroom to get changed.

When he got to the exclusive meeting room for the Supernatural Investigation Department, everyone in the team was already present.

"Zhao Li An, you just made it in time for our meeting," Jun Wei happily said as he gave Zhao Li An a thumbs up.

Zhao Li An nodded and gave Jun Wei a thumbs up as he sat down in one of the chairs by the large office oval meeting table.

Seeing that everyone's here, Shao Fei initiated the meeting. "Now that everyone's here, I'm going to talk about our first case."

Everyone immediately focused and listened to Shao Fei.

"Today, we will try to investigate and catch a thief," Shao Fei handed out some files that contained reports from this morning regarding robbery.

"Shouldn't this be handled by the police department itself?"Jun Wei asked.

"The police department noticed that there was a huge amount of robbery that happened last night. The boss said that it should be handled by our department," Shao Fei answered.

Huang Yi Qi read the reports in the folder, "There seemed to be a lot of reported cases of robbery this morning."

Zhao Li An counted the reported cases.

"More than 50 cases of robbery last night!? That's a lot!" Zhao Li An said with a shocked expression on his face.

Everyone looked at Zhao Li An with a similar expression as him except Shao Fei who already read the reports.

"How could someone rob such a huge amount of people without the victims knowing?" A Zhi asked as he read one of the reports.

"That's what we have to figure out," Shao Fei replied.

"Hmm...that's interesting," Zhao Li An said while flipping the pages of the in the folder.

"What is it?" Shao Fei asked.

"Only one item was stolen per each victim. Also, a lot of the items that were described to be stolen were not necessarily expensive," Zhao Li An answered.

Everyone in the team checked each report.

"Coins, metal vase, silver ring, ...Zhao Li An's right," Jun Wei muttered.

"Why would a thief steal such cheap items? If I were that thief, I would go look for the most expensive ones," A Zhi said as he scratched his chin.

"That's also something I'm not quite sure about," Shao Fei asked as he faced everyone.

After the team continued to discuss the reports for some time, Shao Fei has decided to divide the team to investigate. As usual, Shao Fei and Zhao Li An will investigate together. Jun Wei and Huang Yi Qi will go together. Also this time, A Zhi will also investigate but individually.

For Zhao Li An and his partner, the two of them will investigate in the same street where they conducted surveys yesterday. According to the report, most of the robbery incidents from last night occurred in the 8th street.

When they arrived in the area, they asked victims about the incident and checked the places inside their houses where the thief could have been. To their dismay, there was no clue or suspicious items that were left behind by the thief. It was as if the thief was some kind of ghost!

Interviewing each of the victims, none of them were able to hear any weird noise from last night. Yet, when they interviewed the victims, they were suspecting someone who could have done it: David Auriant.

"I mean if you look in our area, he is the poorest one. Out of the people here, he has the motivation to steal from us. Also, last night I saw him going outside. I mean who would go outside late at night. I know for sure that he works in the morning, so there would be no reason for him to go out late at night. Definitely suspicious," the woman said as she shook her head.

The woman's statement was quite similar to the other victims who live in the 8th street. They were all suspecting David Auriant, the old foreigner, as a suspect.

"Didn't you interview the people in that house yesterday? Tell me about your findings," Shao Fei asked.

"The owner of that small house is David Auriant, 60 years old, and a janitor. He only lives with his grandson, Axel Auriant who is 6 years old. None of them received any powers according to David, but I think he was lying," Zhao Li An said while he recalled the interview that he did with the old foreigner.

"What made you think so?" Shao Fei asked as he faced his partner.

"When I asked him whether he received some kind of power or not, he immediately tensed up and quickly said 'No'," Zhao Li An answered as he looked towards the small house where the old foreigner and his grandchild lives.

"Of course, it does not mean that the old man did it, but everyone seemed to be pointing at him, so we could only make him our primary suspect for now although..."

"Although what?" Shao Fei asked.

"I don't think he was the one who did it." Zhao Li An replied.

"How do you know?" Shao Fei continued.

"Instinct tells me. Also, he just seemed to be an honest man who's very protective of his grandson. I don't think he would want to risk going to jail at all," Zhao Li An casually said.

"Just because he seemed to be an honest person, it doesn't mean he didn't do it. It is sometimes the honest and innocent ones who are guilty." Shao Fei explained.

"I know that. Anyways, it's 6 p.m. and it's getting dark, what's our plan?" Zhao Li An asked.

"We will observe if there is any movement from David Aurient. If he goes outside we will follow him in secret," Shao Fei answered.

The two waited inside there car not too far away from David's house.

After waiting for some hours that seemed to be forever, the two witnessed David going outside of his small house. It was 11:25 p.m.

"I wonder where he is going at such a time?" Zhao Li An asked as he stared at David walking away from his small house while wearing a black jacket with a hood.

"We will find out soon enough," Shao Fei said.

Suddenly, Shao Fei's phone rang. It was from Huang Yi Qi.

After a quick talk on the phone with her. Shao Fei immediately started the engine of his car.

"What's wrong Shao Fei?" Zhao Li An asked while still observing David's movement.

"They caught the thief."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ======
> 
> Hello! Sorry for the delay, but here ya go! Hope you guys enjoy it.


	6. Chapter 5 - First Case : Phantom Thief Pt. 2

[unedited]

"We're going back to the police department," Shao Fei said as he started to drive.

"How about David?" Zhao Li An asked as he looked back at David who was walking away.

"Our priority is the thief," Shao Fei replied.

Zhao Li An was hesitant, but he could only nod.

The moment the two left 8th Street to go back to their police department, David looked back at the direction of the car while he was under the blinking illumination of an old light post. Afterwards, he continued to walk further into the dark alley and disappeared as he blended in the shadows.

       

Upon arrival at their destination, Shao Fei and Zhao Li An went directly to a separate room next to the interrogation room where the suspect was being questioned. They observed the situation through a filtered window where the people inside the interrogation room would be unable to see who was on the other side of the room.

       

"What were you doing around Mr. Wu's property at night?" A Zhi who was sitting across the suspect asked with seriousness in his voice as he frowned. Inside the room, A Zhi was accompanied by Huang Yi Qi.

"I... I...just wanted to check on something..." the nervous bloodied faced man with a disheveled slightly long hair who was wearing broken glasses whispered as he looked down on the floor. Earlier when the suspect was caught, he was beaten up by one of the security guards of the mansion who caught him sneaking around at the owner's backyard. When the police arrived at Mr. Wu's property, they found that the suspect was tied up with a rope.

"What were you checking exactly or were you there to rob the Wu family?" A Zhi continued.

Quickly, the suspect looked up and shook his head. "No! no! I wouldn't dare rob Duke's family. I wouldn't..."

When Huang Yi Qi heard the name Duke, she suddenly became excited.

"Duke? Duke Wu? That famous artist? What's your relationship with him?" Huang Yi Qi asked with enthusiasm. The female investigator loved to watch television shows when she had nothing else to do. Even though the world was suffering from the zombie apocalypse, entertainment such as television shows did not stop. Duke Wu could be considered as one of the top artists in Taiwan. He is handsome and tall. He has toned body and clear pale skin. Of course, his good looks were not the only good thing about him. He is also a quite talented actor and musician. This was part of the reason he was at the top of the entertainment industry.

(A/N: Duke Wu from History 1: Stay Away From Me)

With a cough, A Zhi interrupted Huang Yi Qi. The two then refocused on the suspect.

"He...," the suspect looked down once again. "He's my stepbrother."

In the other room, Zhao Li An and Shao Fei were both looking at the file that was handed to them by Jun Wei about the suspect.

"Edison Song. 24 years old. Works in a supermarket. No known relative. Grew up in an orphanage. Currently lives alone in an apartment," Zhao Li An said as he looked at the file on his hand.

(A/N: Edison Song from History 1: Stay Away From Me)

"Does he have power?" Shao Fei asked.

Zhao Li An looked at Edison's file and confirmed, "He can communicate to plants."

The two looked at one another in silence, then went back to observe the interrogation in the other room.

Huang Yi Qi was shocked as her eyebrows rose. "Stepbrother? Could you be the child of the new wife of Duke Wu's father?"

Edison nodded while keeping his head down.

"Hold on. I've never heard that the new wife had a son. She was even asked about it during an interview, but she denied having a child. Also, you were raised in an orphanage," Huang Yi Qi became suspicious once again.

"I only met my mother a few years ago after she married Duke's father," Edison replied with a tone of sadness in his voice.

He faced Huang Yi Qi with tears building up in his eyes. "Do you know the first thing she said when she finally met me?"

Huang Yi Qi and A Zhi looked at one another, then silently looked at Edison.

"She said 'Edison, I'm your mother. I'll help you out from now on, but please keep it a secret'," Edison replied as he weakly smiled while his busted lips trembled. As the tears left his eyes, the pain that he felt from his already aching injured face worsened. Still, the pain inside his heart hurt more. Being abandoned by your own family hurts.

When Edison met his mother, he thought that finally, he would feel the warmth of having a family. Who would have thought that his mom would just come back just to introduce herself, then tell him to keep their relationship as mother and child a secret? What was the point of introducing herself if she was going to abandon him once again? He felt like he was a stain to what could be a perfect new family for his mother. That what his mother made him feel. Her mother must have thought that just by giving him money, it would be enough to clear her conscience of abandoning him and at the same time silencing him.

Meanwhile, A Zhi and Huang Yi Qi was not sure whether Edison was lying. They had to confirm his statement by contacting who he said was his mother, which is the new Mrs. Wu.

"Then could you explain why were you suspiciously sneaking around at your stepfather's property at night?" A Zhi asked.

"One of the plants in my apartment was stolen. When I talked to my other plants, they told me that my stepbrother was the one who took it. I-I tried calling Duke, but he didn't answer me. Without thinking, I snuck inside their property to look for my plant, but one of the security guards saw me and beat me up," Edison answered with bitterness as he stopped crying.

"You'd risk yourself for a plant?" Huang Yi Qi continued to interrogate.

"It's not just any ordinary plant. It was a gift to me when I was a child by a childhood friend," Edison replied as he remembered his childhood friend.

"How did Duke Wu know about you and the place you live in?" A Zhi asked.

"He was trying to find something bad about my mother.....He didn't like her. In the end, he found out about me," Edison sighed faintly as he replied.

"Why would he take your plant?" A Zhi continued.

Shaking his head, Edison replied, "I don't know."

On the other side of the room, Zhao Li An faced Shao Fei, "He didn't do it."

Shao Fei scratched his chin as he continued to listen to the interrogation, "Intuition?"

"Yes." Zhao Li An nodded.

"What did I tell you about intuition?" Shao Fei asked.

"Shao Fei, his only power is communicating with plants. How can he rob multiple people yesterday with just this kind of power? By the looks of it, this incident is not related to the phantom thief," the smaller policeman said.

"You call the suspect the phantom thief? Heh," Shao Fei paused as he lightly chuckled.

After the pause, Shao Fei replied, "We're still not quite clear on his power. He might be lying. Besides, he doesn't necessarily have to rob people by himself. He might be part of a syndicate. We need to further investigate to make sure."

Slightly pouting, Zhao Li An said, "You're right."

30 minutes have passed and while the interrogation continued, Edison eventually fell unconscious due to fatigue and injuries on his body. The team that was interrogating him failed to notice that Edison was already burning up from a fever. Soon, he was sent to the hospital while being guarded by other police.

The interrogation was naturally suspended and would be resumed when Edison became better. With Shao Fei's order, the Supernatural Investigation Team would continue the investigation on the case of the phantom thief in the morning.

Shao Fei took Zhao Li An home since he did not own a car and it was already past midnight. Before Shao Fei took him home, they dropped by the convenience store because Zhao Li An wanted to buy instant noodles and eat it at home. Zhao Li An invited Shao Fei to eat at home, but he refused.

When they finally got to Zhao Li An's home, Zhao Li An tried to convince his partner to eat with him at his little home once again, but Shao Fei refused again. At this time, Zhao Li An could only give up.

Yawning, Zhao Li An said goodbye to Shao Fei and went inside his home.

As soon as he opened the door and turned on the lights, Zhao Li An said with an evident exhausted tone, "I'm home."

He went straight to the electric kettle and filled it with water from the faucet. When he took out the instant noodles from the plastic bag and opened it, he suddenly remembered his grandmother.

Looking at the picture of his grandmother that was on the shelf not too far away from him, he guiltily said, "Grandma, I bought noodles again and I have a good reason this time. It's not because I'm lazy. It's because it's already late at night and I'm tired. I have no time to cook."

Zhao Li An loves to eat noodles. When he was a child, if he finds a cup of instant noodles, he would eat it. Whether it was for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, he would eat instant noodles if he had the chance. Thankfully, his grandmother would cook delicious food for him, so eventually, this unhealthy habit of eating instant noodles decreased. Yet, after his grandmother died, this bad habit of his has returned. The good thing was that he could still somewhat control this bad habit. Usually, he would only eat instant noodles when he did not have time to prepare to cook. Even then,  Zhao Li An was not a fan of cooking his meal especially when he comes home from work. He was usually already tired. Cooking food would take time which meant less sleep for him. Aside from noodles, Zhao Li An loves to sleep.

Soon, the water in the electric kettle boiled. Zhao Li An poured the hot water in his cup of instant noodles. While waiting for the instant noodles to be ready, he heard another strange noise in his bedroom.

"Is it that black pig again?" Zhao Li An asked himself. He forgot to report about the disappearing pig due to the phantom thief case today.

Leaving his warm cup of noodles on the table in the kitchen, Zhao Li An went directly to his bedroom with caution. As he slowly opened the door and observed what was happening inside his room with the help of the lights, he noticed the same pig from yesterday. The pig was once again seemed to be looking for something. What was it that it wanted?

"What should I do?"

Zhao Li An wanted to know the goal of the pig, but when he saw that his precious picture of his grandmother from his shelf was about to fall, he could not wait any longer. He quickly ran to the shelf of his bedroom to catch the glass picture frame which scared the black pig in the process.

Thinking that the owner of the house would catch him, the black pig dropped an item that it was holding from its mouth as it instantly disappeared.

When Zhao Li An successfully caught the picture frame, he carefully returned it to the top shelf and once again reorganized his things that the black pig messed with.

"What does it want from my room?"

Sighing, Zhao Li An could only shake his head from frustration when the black pig disappeared once again.

After cleaning up, he noticed a mysterious item that was on the floor. He realized that the pig must have dropped it from its mouth due to how slimy the item was.

"Hmm...why would that pig have this lighter?"

Examining the lighter closely, it was a metal type of lighter with black and gold color. It does look quite elegant, so it could be considered expensive.

"I wonder who owns this?" Zhao Li An asked himself as he turned on the lighter when he flicked the base cap.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ======
> 
> Hello, it's been a long time since I updated this. I was busy with the other fanfic, but here you go.


	7. Chapter 6 - First Case : Phantom Thief Pt. 3

[unedited]

[Day 4 After the Rain of Miracle]

[Location: H City at Taiwan, Taipei]

[Population: 24, 997]

It was 9:00 A.M. and the members of the Supernatural Investigation Department were gathered in their exclusive meeting room. There was dead silence as everyone looked at each report that they just received from the police department earlier this morning.

According to the new report, the still unknown phantom thief or syndicate managed to rob numerous people's homes once again last night.

The details according to the victims remained the same. Only one item was stolen per each victim. Some items that were reported missing were not necessarily expensive or uncommon. In addition, the missing items were once placed in the lower level of shelves and cabinets in their houses. No weird noises were heard during the night and there were no signs of forced entry into the household.

"By the looks of it, we're dealing with one person after all," Shao Fei said.

"Shao Fei, how do you know we're just dealing with one person?" Huang Yi Qi asked as she faced him.

"The pattern remained similar," Shao Fei replied.

"Similar pattern?" Zhao Li An asked as he faced Shao Fei.

Shao Fei nodded.

"Yesterday, when we went to the victims' houses, do you remember where all the stolen items were placed at before?" Shao Fei asked as he faced Zhao Li An.

His partner looked up a bit as he tried to remember, "Hmm, each victim mentioned that the stolen items were placed in the lower level of their shelves and cabinets."

"Correct. I thought that this was a way for the 'syndicate' to test whether such a method would cause a huge commotion or not. By stealing one item in a place where people would not usually pay attention such as the lower level of a shelf or cabinet, they thought that people would not notice. They thought that they could get away from getting attention from the police. But it seemed that it was not the case after all," Shao Fei looked on the report on the table.

"Why do you think so?" Zhao Li An asked.

"If a 'syndicate' does exist, the members should have been aware of the increased security around the city," Shao Fei said.

As he tapped his fingers on the table, he continued, "If this was the case, shouldn't there be lesser robberies from last night?"

Looking at the reports that they have received, there were more than 50 cases of robbery incidents last night.

"That's true. Aside from the increased police force patrolling the area, the chief even set up different checkpoints at different parts of the city. The media even warned the people about the robbery incidents," Huang Yi Qi answered.

"Yet, this 'syndicate' decided to continue robbing people the same way. They should've known that this method of stealing one item per victim doesn't work anymore, but they still did it anyways. Also, If they have no fear of being caught, then why stick with only one item per victim? Why not steal more items from each victim?" Shao Fei continued his explanation.

The members of the S.I.D nodded and understood Shao Fei's point.

"One more point to add," Shao Fei raised his index finger, "Based on the surveys we conducted on people with powers, we know that there were no people who have similar abilities. Now, knowing that all of the robbery cases that we have received these past two days had similar patterns or methods of stealing, it just meant that there should be really just one culprit since there's no way two or more people with different abilities could duplicate such flawless robberies."

Everyone in the meeting room once again nodded and were amazed at Shao Fei's thinking. Everything he said made sense.

"Still, we don't know why this particular thief steal this way at all," Zhao Li An said with a puzzled look on his face.

"That's true," Huang Yi Qi said as she sighed.

"Wait, then it means that Edison Song is not our phantom thief after all," Jun Wei said as he scratched his head.

"Phantom thief?" A Zhi looked at Jun Wei with confusion plastered on his face.

Jun Wei looked at him with a startled look and pointed at Zhao Li An, "That's what Zhao Li An calls the culprit."

A Zhi looked at Zhao Li An, who was slightly embarrassed. Shaking his head as he chuckled, he faced Huang Yi Qi who was explaining about Edison Song's status.

"Regarding Edison Song, he was under tight surveillance the entire time in the hospital. He also spent the entire night in the hospital bed in a handcuff. There was no way he could've escaped," Huang Yi Qi reported.

Shao Fei nodded.

"Should we still investigate Edison Song?" Zhao Li An asked.

"Since he's not part of this phantom thief case anymore, we're handing him over to the normal investigators of our police department," Shao Fei answered as he flipped the pages of the report on his hand.

"So what's the plan, Shao Fei?" Zhao Li An asked with some enthusiasm.

Closing the folder on his hand, Shao Fei said unhurriedly but with a serious tone, "Zhao Li An and I will continue interviewing the victims and see if there are any clues that the phantom thief have left behind. Jun Wei would go to different stores and investigate if there's a new supplier who tried to sell the store owners new or used items. A Zhi, I want you to look at the files of the people with abilities who seemed to be capable of being undetected. Lastly, Huang Yi Qi, I want you to take care of handing Edison Song's case to the normal investigators."

With the orders given by their team leader and head of the Supernatural Investigation Department, everyone stood up and proceeded to work.

Outside the police department, Zhao Li An and Shao Fei were discussing the phantom thief case when suddenly Zhao Li An realized that he forgot his cellphone inside the building. Shao Fei only shook his head and told him to meet him in his old black car as he walked away. Zhao Li An quickly nodded to his superior.

Before he went inside, Zhao Li An quickly checked his pockets once again. To his surprise, when he pulled out his wallet from one of his pockets, a familiar item fell on the ground. It was the mixed black and gold colored metal lighter from yesterday. He forgot that he put the lighter in his pocket last night.

Shrugging, he put the lighter back inside the pocket and went inside the police station to get his phone. Little did he know that someone started to observe him not too far away from the police station.

When Zhao Li An got his phone back, he immediately went out to meet Shao Fei in his old black car in the parking lot. The two then went straight to one of the victims' houses that was not too far away from 8th street and a small pig farm. Not too long after they left, they were followed by the same man earlier who was riding a standard yet elegant black motorcycle and wearing a protective red helmet.

As they arrived at their destination, Zhao Li An started asking questions to the small old lady in her 60's while Shao Fei was checking her house for clues.

"At first, I didn't really notice that something went missing, but then I remembered the news report about mass robbery yesterday, so I checked. I found out that the small green box where I usually put my coins was gone," she sighed, "I mean I live alone in this house.... and also my memory is still sharp, so there was no way I misplaced it. I'm sure that it was that thief that did it!"

Zhao Li An took notes as he continued to ask her questions, "Did you not hear any weird noises at all last night?"

The old lady shook her head, "No. I mean, all I could hear last night are those noises of the pigs in that small pig farm over there, but I mean those noises are quite normal here. Anyways, I've never really heard any noises at all. That thief must be some kind of ghost, I tell you."

Zhao Li An continued his interrogation, but there was no new information or clue that could help them find the phantom thief.

When Shao Fei came out of the room, Zhao Li An asked, "Did you find anything?"

Shao Fei shook his head as he came out of the house.

Before Zhao Li An followed him, he said goodbye to the old lady and left.

When he came out of the house, he saw that Shao Fei was on the phone.

"What is it, Huang Yi Qi?" Shao Fei asked.

"Edison Song escaped the hospital! The two police who were guarding him were all unconscious, but thankfully unharmed. The chief is handing this case to us again. Right now, I'm checking the security camera footage," Huang Yi Qi answered.

"Alright, I'm heading there right now," Shao Fei replied as he lightly pinched the bridge of his nose due to slight frustration. They had not made much progress with the phantom thief case when another case decided to show up. Another problem to be solved.

"What happened Shao Fei?" Zhao Li An asked as he approached his partner.

Shao Fei quickly explained what happened. He then ordered Zhao Li An to continue interviewing the victims. Even though every victim that the two of them had interviewed had similar statements, he thought that they might still find a clue that would help them solve this case of the phantom thief.

"Leave this matter to me, Shao Fei!" Zhao Li An saluted with a smile.

Seeing the bright expression of his partner, Shao Fei nodded as his frustration lessened. He smiled afterward as he patted the shorter policeman's head. He realized that it was too early for him to feel defeated and frustrated.

"I'll be back as soon as I can," Shao Fei replied.

"Ok!" Zhao Li An continued.

Shao Fei quickly ran to his car and left to go to the hospital.

Zhao Li An was about to go to the house next to the old lady's house when he saw a familiar figure that was walking leisurely towards the entrance of a small pig farm not too far away from him. It was the teleporting black pig!

"So, that's where you live," Zhao Li An smiled.

Yet before he ran towards the black pig, his left arm was pulled by a mysterious person.

As soon as Zhao Li An looked back, he was shocked.

"You? What are you doing here?"

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> =======
> 
> Hello everyone, I'm sorry for the long update. I've been really busy, but here ya go! If you see mistakes, just let me know.


	8. Chapter 7 - First Case : Phantom Thief Pt. 4

[unedited]

Holding his left arm tightly, Jack replied with a smirk on his face, "You should already know why I'm here."

With a sudden frown on Zhao Li An's face due to confusion while struggling to get free from Jack's grasp, "I-I don't understand."

It has been a while since he saw this person. Also, they have not interacted at all aside from seeing each other during Jack's brief detentions in the police station, so why would he be here saying as if they have talked before? Zhao Li An could not remember the time that they actually talked to one another.

"Alright, I'll remind you then," Jack said calmly as he waved the black and gold metal lighter in his black half-gloved hand in front of Zhao Li An's face.

"Ehh?" Zhao Li An was puzzled.

He pointed at the lighter as he asked with curiosity, "How did you get that?"

The slightly smaller police searched his pockets with his free right hand, "It's not here! Ehh...Where's my wallet!?"

As soon as he looked up, he saw his wallet being waved in front of his face too.

"Looking for this?" Jack teased as he continued to wave the wallet and the lighter.

"You! Why did you steal my wallet?" Zhao Li An asked as he tried to grab the wallet from Jack. Unfortunately, he was slightly smaller than Jack, so he could not reach his wallet.

Widening his eyes as if surprised, "Steal? Aren't you the first one to steal something from us?"

"Give my wallet back! And I haven't stolen anything from you!" Zhao Li An who was slightly annoyed said. How dare this gangster accuse him of stealing? His grandmother never taught him to steal! Also, he would not dare steal!

"You're already caught and you still dare lie? What kind of policeman are you?" Jack tilted his head as he mocked the smaller policeman.

"What are you talking about!? If you don't give my wallet back, I'm going to arrest you for stealing and harassing a public servant," Zhao Li An threatened as he grabbed his handcuffs, but they were also taken by Jack.

"You stole master Tang Yi's lighter. This one that was in your pocket," Jack said.

Zhao Li An stopped struggling as soon as he heard Jack's words. "That's Tang Yi's lighter?"

Jack nodded as he continued, "Not only was his lighter stolen, but also my butterfly knife was stolen too. Surely, you must have it?"

It was then everything clicked in Zhao Li An's head. The mysterious phantom thief that the S.I.D team has been trying to pursue aimlessly was that black pig that could teleport! It was not a person but a pig!

Thinking about it, it made so much sense. The pig could go to multiple places in such a short amount of time due to its teleporting ability. The reason that one item was only stolen per house was that the pig could only carry one thing in its mouth at a time. The item it could only steal could only be at the lower level of the shelves or cabinet because of his seemingly large body and small legs. No one realized any weird noises because the noises that the pig could have made were considered normal occurrences in the victims' houses that were nearby the pig farm.  

With such realization, Zhao Li An momentarily stopped paying attention to Jack and turned around to face the pig farm nearby.

Seeing that the quirky policeman stopped paying attention to him, Jack faced the entrance of the pig farm for a quick second then moved in front of the policeman to block his view. Jack seemed to like to mess with this particular policeman.

Soon, Zhao Li An attempted to run towards the entrance, but he was pulled back by the quite strong tall gangster.

"Are you running away?" Jack smiled. The moment he pulled him back, their chests were against one another and their faces were dangerously close. Jack did not plan this to happen. He did not expect that the smaller policeman would be this physically weak.

Zhao Li An stared at him into his eyes and hurriedly tried to explain the situation while ignoring the fact that the two of them were too close.

"It's that black pig! That teleporting black pig was the one robbing people!"

Pointing hurriedly and restlessly at the direction of the pig farm, he continued, "I saw that pig going inside. I have to check that place."

Once again, Zhao Li An tried to run towards the direction of the pig farm, but he was stopped by Jack again.

"What if you're just lying and you're just trying to run away from me?" Jack pulled him again, but this time the force that he used was lesser.

This time, Zhao Li An could not take it anymore. His next action surprised and even piqued Jack's interest towards him more.

With his free right hand, he pulled and held Jack's right hand that was grasping his other hand.

"Come with me and you'll see, hurry," he said anxiously.

This time, Jack did not resist and even allowed the smaller policeman to drag him towards the entrance of the pig farm. Slowly, a genuine smile was plastered on his face, which was quite rare.

As soon as the odd tandem reached the huge green gate of the pig farm, Zhao Li An tried to peek inside the farm, but due to his small height, he could not reach the top of the gate.

Seeing that the policeman was struggling, he released his hand.

"You want me to check what's inside?" Jack asked with interest.

Zhao Li An shook his head as he replied, "I can't allow a civilian to get involved. We don't know the exact situation inside. It's too dangerous."

Jack scoffed, "You think I'm just an ordinary civilian? You've seen me multiple times in the police department."

Zhao Li An was not quite sure how to respond to that question. He knew that Jack was a gangster, yet somehow he was also involved with the military. This does imply that Jack was no ordinary civilian.

Jumping over the tall gate with such ease, Jack opened the gate and continued, "You should already know that I'm not ordinary."

With such amazing action done by Jack, the small policeman could not help it but admire the gangster. He admitted to himself that Jack was quite cool! 

Of course, he could not say these things to a gangster, so he did not exactly say anything aside from a "Thank you."

Still, even though he could not say how cool Jack was earlier, it was clear in his glittering eyes and stunned reaction earlier how much he admired him.

When he saw this restricted response of admiration from the smaller policeman, Jack could only hide the smile on his face. Still, he was satisfied.

When Zhao Li An got in, he examined the area for any danger. After checking, he gestured Jack to follow him.

When they reached the entrance, they saw a huge black pig that seemed to be organizing a pile of random items.

"That's my butterfly knife in his mouth," Jack whispered.

Zhao Li An looked at the pig's mouth and saw parts of what seemed to be a butterfly knife.

When the black pig dropped the butterfly knife in its preferred place on the pile, the pig disappeared.

Seeing what happened, Jack now believed Zhao Li An.

"The pig's gone, let's go inside," the policeman said. As soon as he felt that the inside of the red barn was safe, the two went inside.

"The items here matched the items that were reported missing," Zhai Li An said as he nodded. It just further confirmed his suspicions.

"I wonder why would this pig steal these?"

Taking his butterfly knife from the pile and wiping away the pig's saliva from it, Jack answered, "We should ask the owner."

Zhao Li An nodded. The two headed towards the shabby old house that was next to the red barn.

First Zhao Li An looked inside through the window to see if any danger or activity was going on inside the house. When he confirmed that nothing was wrong, he decided to knock.

"This is H City's Special Investigation Department police, please open the door!" Zhao Li An demanded with authority in his voice.

After countless times of knocking and talking, he only got a reply in complete silence.

"No one seems to be home," Zhao Li An whispered.

"We could go and check inside," Jack replied.

Zhao Li An nodded. He tried to open the door, but it was locked.

"Let me try," Jack said.

Grabbing a sturdy small card from his pocket, Jack started lock picking the door lock of the old house.

The moment he pulled the door and it opened, he gestured like a gentleman for Zhao Li An to go in.

"Good job," Zhao Li An whispered as he nodded. He quickly pulled out his gun as he went inside. His heart started to beat more rapidly as his senses became more sensitive. He thought that this was what it felt like to be in action.

Since there was no one in the living room of the house, Zhao Li An searched the other rooms with Jack. One by one they checked them, but they did not see anyone or anything suspicious. Yet, as soon as they reached the bedroom and opened the door inside, they saw something unexpected. A dead old man was lying in the bed. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> =========
> 
> Hello everyone! I took a quick break from writing. Anyways here you go. Hope you guys enjoy!


	9. Chapter 8 - First Case : Phantom Thief Pt. 5

Jack was the first one to approach and examine the dead old man, who seemed to be in his 70s, in the bed. Meanwhile, Zhao Li An was momentarily stuck of what to do. He never dealt with dead people in a crime scene before. Again, he was mostly stuck on his computer working on different files in the police department before. He never had experience working outside the office.

As he was about to call for backup from the S.I.D, Jack spoke.

"It seems that he died of a natural cause. Quite recent death."

Zhao Li An stepped closer next to Jack by the bed and asked, "Natural cause?"

Jack faced the smaller policeman and smiled. "Do you notice the expression on his face?"

Zhao Li An examined the old man and noticed that he was smiling. At the same time, he also noticed a picture frame that the old man was hugging.

"No forced entry in this house except for us, of course," Jack winked at Zhao Li An as he continued, "No visible marks to suggest that he was harmed."

He then reached for the medicine that was on the small table next to the bed of the old man, "Medicine for treating heart disease."

After reading the label, Jack handed the medicine to Zhao Li An. "He could've died from heart failure from his sleep."

Still, it looked like the old man was actually happy even in his death. He probably had a great life or could it be that he was happy to die?

When he slowly removed the picture frame that was being hugged by the old man, Jack's eyebrows slightly raised due to amusement.

Seeing the amused expression of Jack, Zhao Li An also looked at the picture.

"That must be his wife," Zhao Li An said.

In the colored picture, there was the much younger old man, an old lady, and a piglet being carried by the old lady. Behind them was a red barn. The old man and the old lady were smiling widely to the point they looked like they were giggling as the piglet seemed to be trying to get away from the old lady's grasp.

"That's the teleporting pig!" Zhao Li An said exclaimed. The piglet in the picture was black, but it had a white spot on its forehead.

"They seem to give this particular pig special treatment," he continued.

"Still, I wonder why he would steal things from people," Zhao Li An whispered as he started pondering. While pondering, his eyes wandered around the room. He suddenly noticed something. There were different items that he has never seen in his entire life, but only in pictures. Aside from the old wheelchair, wooden cane and simple furniture, there were Chinese antique vases, old European paintings, colorful Moroccan carpet, and many other things that were famous in different countries. By quickly looking at the other pictures of the old man in the room, Zhao Li An concluded that he was a collector and a traveler. In those pictures, the teleporting pig was also included. The old man happily held the pig and the item that he collected in the picture. None of the pictures that he observed had the old lady. Most likely she died earlier.

"Could it be that he was collecting items for the old man?" Zhao Li An suggested.

Jack smiled, "It could be the reason."

Zhao Li An faced Jack and continued to explain to him his reason, "We know that based on these pictures that the old man treats the teleporting pig quite well. They looked quite happy in these pictures," Zhao Li An then quickly paused as he took one of the pictures of the old man and the pig from another table, "Since it's hard for the old man to move and due to his condition, he could not go outside and travel. My guess is that the teleporting pig was the one that did the traveling and collecting after it gained powers."

"Impressive guess," Jack said as he nodded.

Zhao Li An scratched his head as he slightly smiled, "It's only a guess. We won't be able to confirm it since the culprit can't talk at all. We don't even know where it went," he suddenly paused as he remembered, "Ahh! I forgot that I have to call for backup!"

Grabbing his phone, Zhao Li An called the police department and emergency responders for backup.

Soon, Jun Wei, A Zhi and the rest of the backup came. They were greeted by Zhao Li An by the front gate of the pig farm.

"How's the situation here? Are you okay?" Jun Wei asked worriedly to Zhao Li An. He knew that this was Zhao Li An's first time working on a crime scene. Although there was no any kind of gruesome scenes to deal with according to him, it must still be hard on him to deal with this thing by himself.

"Um, I'm okay. Everything's fine," Zhao Li An answered. Afterwards, he started explaining his discovery to others.

By the corner where he would not be seen by the others, Jack witnessed how Zhao Li An and Jun Wei seemed to be rather close as the two talked. He only scoffed. He himself could not explain the sudden slight irritation that he felt. In any case, since his goal to retrieve his butterfly knife and his master's lighter was accomplished, he quickly fled from the scene.

"I wasn't alone, I was with...," Zhao Li An said as he turned back to look for Jack, "Eh? Where did he go?"

"Who were you with?" Jun Wei asked as he frowned while A Zhi and his team proceeded to go to the red barn and the old man's house for retrieval and investigation.

"I was with Jack earlier," Zhao Li An replied as he whispered, "Did he leave already?"

"Why was he with you?" Jun Wei asked as if he was interrogating. He knew that Jack was a gangster and he was up to no good every time he was around.

"He wanted to get back the lighter and the butterfly knife that the pig stole," Zhao Li An answered as he confusedly looked around for Jack. Why did he leave without saying anything? When he could not find a trace of him, the young policeman could only scratch his head as he helped out with the retrieval of items from the red barn. As for the old man, after confirming that there was no crime committed against him, the emergency responders took the body to be examined and to figure out the actual cause of his death. It would be known later that the old man died from heart failure. Before he was taken away, the picture frame that he was hugging was already gone from the room.

After the retrieval of items from the barn and seeing that the teleporting pig did not come back, the team could only return to the police department. A Zhi and Jun Wei were surprised that the culprit was actually a pig. They did not know that animals could also have powers.

Later that day, the Special Investigation Department held a meeting. In regards of the teleporting pig, since there was no way to catch it, they did not have any options, but to let it go. If by any chance that the pig continues its destructive behavior, then Shao Fei would have to declare a Shoot to Kill order. The items that were retrieved from the red barn would be returned to their respective owners in the police department. As for the case of Edison Song, it was dismissed as ordered by the Chief of the police department. It seemed that the higher ups ordered the dismissal of the case. This just made Huang Yi Qi's intuition about the involvement of Duke Wu more plausible. She knew that Duke Wu's father was a powerful figure in the entertainment industry. He was even seen socializing with the senior officials of the military. It could be that Duke Wu's father used his connection to dismiss the case about Edison Song. Yet, even if this was true, the S.I.D could not do anything about this at all. They could not further investigate.

"If there's nothing else, you're all dismissed for today," Shao Fei said. There was frustration in his expression.

When everyone left except Zhao Li An, Shao Fei looked up and asked, "You need a ride home?"

Zhao Li An nodded, but he quickly said, "What's bothering you Shao Fei?"

Pinching the bridge of his nose as he took a deep breath, "The cases that we have handled so far, they're not completely closed. I feel powerless."

Seeing that his best friend was feeling down, Zhao Li An quickly acted to encourage and lift his spirits.

"Shao Fei, at least we don't have to worry about these cases anymore. You're free to pursue what it is you want to do with your free time. For example, Tang Yi." As soon as Zhao Li An mentioned Tang Yi, Shao Fei had a sudden realization. Zhao Li An was right!

"Because of the cases we handled for the S.I.D, you didn't have time to pursue your investigation on Tang Yi. Now, you have the time," Zhao Li An once again emphasized. With this, he hoped that Shao Fei would not feel down. Thankfully, his plan worked. Shao Fei was fired up.

"You're right, Zhao Zi!" Shao Fei said as he slammed the table from becoming suddenly enthusiastic which startled Zhao Li An.

"That's the spirit," Zhao Li An said as he smiled.

"Alright, I'll take you home." Shao Fei got up from his seat.

Zhao Li An nodded and the two went outside. Before Shao Fei drove his partner back home, Zhao Li An asked that the two of them eat noodles in a convenience store. Since Shao Fei was in a good mood, he did not deny his request. When it was time to pay, Zhao Li An could not find his wallet. He suddenly realized that Jack did not return his wallet yet! Now, who was the actual stealer? The young policeman must now find Jack to get his wallet back. Thankfully, Shao Fei was understanding and nice enough to pay for the noodles he ate.

"Thank you, Shao Fei! I'll see you tomorrow," Zhao Li An said as he smiled.

Shao Fei nodded as he said, "Good night."

After their goodbyes, Shao Fei drove away.

Going inside his little house, Zhao Li An grabbed a glass of water to drink. Afterwards, he went to the bathroom to take a bath. When he finished his business in the bathroom and changed into his fresh clothes, he went inside his bedroom.

Due to exhaustion, he quickly lied in bed. Unfortunately, he forgot to turn off the lights. As he got up, he momentarily turned to look at his bookshelf and instantly noticed something different. There was an unfamiliar picture frame that was set up there. As Zhao Li An looked closely at the picture, his eyes and mouth widened from the sudden shock.

It was the picture frame that the old man was hugging when he died in his bed.

Zhao Li An suddenly felt goosebumps all over his body. Was he being haunted?

With this thought, he put down the picture frame back to the bookshelf and quickly covered himself in a blanket.

While hiding inside his blanket, Zhao Li An heard footsteps. As the footsteps got closer to him, Zhao Li An's heart started to beat faster. Although Zhao Li An was not the type of person to get easily scared, when it comes to things related to ghosts, he gets scared quite easily.

"Oink."

Zhao Li An, "Ahh! Don't possess me!"

"Oink?"

After hearing the voice of the ghost, once again, Zhao Li An was confused.

"Eh?"

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> =====
> 
> It's been a long time, but I didn't forget to update. Here you go!


	10. Chapter 9 - Your Name is Cabbage

<Unedited>

Removing his blanket that was covering his face, he slowly looked at the direction where the source of the noise came from.

Looking down by his bed, he was surprised that the teleporting pig was there.

"You!? What are you doing here?" Zhao Li An asked in confusion.

What was this pig doing in his house? Was it trying to steal?

The pig just stood there and looked at the owner of the house directly into his eyes as if trying to say something quite important.

"Oink! Oink! Oink!" (I need a safe place to stay.)

Zhao Li An frowned. It was odd that the pig was not teleporting away. Usually, whenever he would encounter this pig personally, it would quickly disappear.

"You haven't teleported away too after seeing me. What's happening here exactly? You're not stealing are you?" Zhao Li An said with suspicion. He looked around at his bedroom while still in bed to see if he had missing items. There was none thankfully.

"Oink. Oink," the pig replied with a sigh. ("I'm not going to steal anything here.")

Even though the pig was not teleporting away, Zhao Li An would not be able to catch him in any way, even if he wanted to. So, he stood up and tried to know why the pig came here.

Remembering the picture frame of the old farmer and his family that was in his bookshelf, he wanted to take it and to observe it. Yet, before he could even touch it, the pig was already pulling his black pajamas down.

The pig struggled as he was pulling Zhao Li An back, "OINK!! OIIINNNKKK!" ("Don't touch my family picture!")

Zhao Li An quickly tried to pull back his pajamas back, "What do you think you're doing?"

Seeing that the police officer stopped touching his family picture frame, the pig stopped pulling.

"Oink!" ("Hmph!")

Somehow, Zhao Li An felt the contempt from the pig's voice, which made him confused.

He looked at the picture frame again and tried to grab it, but he was once again stopped by the pig's pulling.

Zhao Li An stopped and confronted the pig. "Hey, how can you act this way? You're in my house!"

"OINK!" ("HMPH!")

The young police officer felt the contempt once again from the pig. This time, it was more obvious. In any case, Zhao Li An could not accept such behavior.

"Hey, I don't appreciate the tone of your voice. You should give others a respect if you want to earn respect too. That's what my late grandmother taught me," Zhao Li An scolded the pig even though he knew that it might not understand what he was saying. Still, he could not help it.

When the pig heard the word 'grandmother', he quickly stopped what he was doing. Although he could not speak the human language, he was smart enough to understand what people say. Hearing that the young policeman mentioned his grandmother, the pig seemed to remember his now dead human grandparents who adopted him. When he learned the death of his human grandfather, he was prepared for it. He did not cry although he was saddened to lose him.

In any case, somehow at this point, he felt that he was on the verge of crying. Why, at this point, he has this urge to cry?

The teleporting pig looked down as he sat down on the floor. Meanwhile, Zhao Li An felt that he somehow hit a sore spot on the pig. Although he was not sure if the pig did understand what he just said, yet the fact that the pig changed its attitude after scolding him just could mean that it could understand him. Thinking about it, this change of attitude was probably related to the old farmer. In any case, he did feel bad.

Awkwardly but carefully, Zhao Li An sat next to the pig and tried to comfort it.

"I'm sorry for your loss," Zhao Li An said with heartfelt words. He was going to caress its head to comfort, but he was hesitating. Finally, after some thought, he proceeded to caress its head. As long as he did not bite him, it would be okay.

Feeling the warm touch of the young police man's hand on its head in addition to his heartfelt words, the pig felt comforted even for a bit. It looked up with tears in its eyes.

"Oink." ("Thanks.")

Zhao Li An did not understand what the pig was saying, but he could sense what it was trying to say. Still, he replied.

"You're welcome." Zhao Li An smiled as he continued to caress the pig.

At that moment on, a connection was made.

[Day 5 After the Rain of Miracle]

[Location: H City at Taiwan, Taipei]

[Population: 24, 996]

That morning, Zhao Li An woke up. He wondered if what happened last night was a dream, but seeing that the picture frame was still at his bookshelf and the pig sleeping on the floor with its bed that it brought last night, he knew that it was not a dream.

He wondered if this pig was going to stay at home from now on? By the looks of it, it would be the case. He does not mind though since he lives in this house by himself. Having a company would not be such a bad idea.

As he got off his bed, he carefully tip-toed away, so he would not wake up the pig.

In the kitchen, he started making a simple breakfast: an egg sandwich and warm milk. Thinking about the pig, he looked for food that he could feed it. In the refrigerator, he found a cabbage, some carrots, and some fruits. He took them out and washed them. Then, he pulled out a huge bowl from his kitchen cabinet and put the fruits and vegetables in it. He was not sure if this was enough, but it was better than nothing. If it was not enough, then he might just buy more later. He thought that he should probably invest on a small garden to cut expenses in the long run if the pig would stay with him longer.

Soon, the pig woke up and instantly teleported next to Zhao Li An which scared the young policeman.

"Ah!" Zhao Li An flinched. "You scared me."

"Oink! Oink!" ("You get scared easily.") The pig thought that it should stop scaring the policeman because he might die from a heart attack. It would be a pain to find another person to live with. In the first place, the pig was questioning itself why it decided to choose the policeman's house to stay with. It could be that when the first time it came here to steal something, it saw the picture frame of an old woman which reminded it of its own grandmother. It could be that the pig also thought that it could trust the policeman or it could be that the pig was just desperate and had no choice but to go with the policeman. Either way, the pig seemed to have done the right thing since the policeman was treating him well.

Calming down, Zhao Li An proceeded to take the huge bowl full of vegetables and fruits on the floor for the pig.

"You must be hungry, here!"

The pig looked at the bowl that was offered to him and he was impressed. He liked vegetables and fruits.

"Oink." ("Thank you")

After he replied, the pig started munching his food.

"Hehe, no problem!" Zhao Li An replied happily as he patted the pig's head.

Suddenly, he realized that the pig does not have a name.

"Hey, do you have a name?" Zhao Li An asked with curiosity as he grabbed his sandwich.

The pig did not reply. Although the pig did have a name, how could he tell the policeman his real name? He decided that he would just let the policeman name him.

"Ahh, right," Zhao Li An said. "You must have a name, but no one could really tell me what it is."

His family was dead and the pig could not talk, so there was no way for Zhao Li An to know the actual name of the pig.

As he drank his milk, Zhao Li An started thinking for a suitable name for the pig. Looking around for inspiration, he came up with a name he thought was suitable.

"Cabbage!"

Hearing the young policeman getting hyped, the pig looked up to observe him and said, "Oink! Oink!" ("You're loud.")

Zhao Li An thought that his new roommate liked the name, so he happily announced, "Ahh, yes! That's your name from now on! Cabbage! Your name is Cabbage!"

"Oink! Oink! Oink!" ("What kind of name is that!? I don't agree!!")

It was too late. Zhao Li An seemed to set his mind on that name.

"Alright, Cabbage! I have to go to work right now," Zhao Li An replied as he finished gulping his glass of milk.

Quickly, Zhao Li An went into the bathroom to prepare for work. As for Cabbage, he was left by himself and unable to protest. Since there was no way he could disagree with the policeman, Cabbage accepted his fate. He just continued eating his food on the bowl. Although Cabbage was such a bad name, it was not the worst.

After washing up and preparing to go to work, Zhao Li An briefly talked to Cabbage about house rules.

"Cabbage, while I'm gone, I want you to behave, okay? That means no more stealing from anyone. Please don't make any trouble. Also, please guard our house. If anything happens...well you can teleport to the police department where I am usually. No one would be able to catch you anyways. Understood?"

"Was he a dog?" Cabbage thought to himself. He hated dogs. Of course, it was useless for him to argue with this human.

Cabbage simply nodded, "Oink!" ("Alright.") 

For Cabbage to understand what he was saying, Zhao Li An was satisfied. "Alright, I'll be back later."

He patted Cabbage's head then left. As he was about to leave the gate, he looked for his wallet in one of his pockets. It was then that he remembered that his wallet was still in Jack's hands! That gangster!

As he was thinking of how to contact Jack, he noticed a black motorcycle parked in front of his small house. By that motorcycle, a man holding a red helmet was standing still.

"Good morning, Zhao Zi," the man said happily.

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Hello everyone! I know that it has been a long time since I updated this fanfiction. I was busy and I was focusing on the other fanfiction.  I'm trying to update as much as I can and thank you for waiting.

 

In any case, I would like to greet everyone belated Merry Christmas and a prosperous Happy New Year!!!

 


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